When Will wasn’t feeling so great the other day, I asked him what he’d like for lunch. I figured he’d request soup, the quintessential sick day fare.

“Pasta.”

“Well alright then…pasta it is.”

My favorite cooking challenge is when I’m not sure what exactly we have in the pantry and how I’ll magically transform the odds and ends into a meal.

This pasta, which I’ll call Sick Day Bucatini, was the result of getting creative with a handful of ingredients.

Here’s what I used…

2 pounds of Roma tomatoes

olive oil

salt + pepper

dried oregano

1/2 yellow onion

balsamic vinegar (optional)

1/4 c. heavy cream

Pecorino cheese (freshly grated)

16 oz. Bucatini (or your favorite pasta)

Preheat your oven to 400 degrees.

On a sheet pan or cookie sheet lined with parchment paper or foil for easy clean-up, arrange the halved Roma tomatoes in a single layer. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle liberally with salt, pepper, and dried oregano or Italian seasoning. Roast for 40 minutes until meltingly sweet and tender.

In a large stockpot, bring five quarts of water to a rolling boil.

Meanwhile, thinly slice the onion and sauté in olive oil in a large skillet until soft and caramelized. If you’re using the balsamic, de-glaze the sautéed onions with about a tablespoon of balsamic vinegar. This lends a little extra sweetness and acidity if you’ve got balsamic on hand.

After the tomatoes have roasted, carefully transfer them along with the caramelized onions to a blender (depending on the size of your blender, you may need to do this in batches) and blend until smooth. Return the tomato mixture to the pan you caramelized the onions in and bring to a bubble.

Add two tablespoons of salt to your boiling water and drop your pasta. Cook it one minute less than the package directions (it’ll finish cooking in the sauce) and reserve 1 cup of pasta water before draining. Add the cream to the sauce bubbling on the stove and salt and pepper to taste. Toss your pasta into the tomato sauce and using tongs, marry the pasta and sauce by vigorously combining the bucatini and sauce.

Serve with a shower of Pecorino (or Parmesan if you’ve got it). Finish with additional cracked pepper if that’s your thing.